Family enjoying dandelion greens

By Lovina Eicher, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Wednesday, April 11, 2007 (1 year, 9 months ago)
Print

The children are washing the breakfast dishes and sweeping the floors while I write this letter and ready it for today’s mail. I almost neglected the column with the week seeming to go by extra fast because the children were on spring break from school. So with five more children at home there hasn’t been much quiet time to concentrate and write.
I had also hoped to get the yard raked but the weather isn’t permitting it. Right now it is really blowing snow and we have a thin layer of snow on the ground. The temperature was 25 this morning. Is it April or January? My husband Joe started up our coal stove again last night. We hadn’t used it for about two weeks. I had also washed, folded, and put away the children’s extra coats and snow pants as I was thinking Spring was here to stay but obviously I was wrong.
We had been enjoying dandelion greens for the last week, before winter decided to return. Now with the snow it would be hard to go out and pick some. We like them fixed in a salad with hard boiled eggs and a sour cream made of mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, and milk. I don’t make my sour cream as sour (adding less vinegar) as Mom did. The children seem to eat it better that way. Although some of the children do not care for dandelion greens, now I think they will come to like them. I remember not liking them until I was a little older but now I love them. Along with the dandelion salad, we like steamed potatoes and bacon.
Horseradish is also a favorite at this time of year. I am still waiting for Joe’s Uncle Soloman’s homemade horseradish recipe from Holmes County, Ohio that I would like to share with you readers when I get it. We like to eat horseradish with our hard boiled eggs that the children color for Easter.
The children want to color eggs today as Sunday is Easter. We want to do laundry, mop floors, and then I’ll let them color around 8 dozen eggs this evening.
Tomorrow Joe will be home from work as we don’t work on Good Friday in this community (as don’t most Amish communities). We use it as a day to honor our Lord Jesus for all the holy suffering he did as he was slain on the holy cross. We always honor “Him “ at Easter and always.  Good Friday will be a nice family day to rest and read the Bible together. So often our lives get too busy so it’s nice to have a day like this together.
Our church services are now over with for another turn.  There is a lot of work to prepare for services but now everything has been thoroughly cleaned which is a good feeling. Next on our list of things to do is clean up the yard and plant grass around the new house. But we will accept the weather God sends us and take one day at a time.
Also to some who had written and asked about the pumpkin cookie recipe a couple of weeks ago, the recipe was printed correctly, it does not require eggs.  Meanwhile, here is a good recipe to use up any leftover ham from Easter.
Homemade Ham Loaf
1 pound cured ground ham
1 pound pork or hamburger
2 eggs
2/3 cups cracker crumbs or oatmeal
1/3 cup minute tapioca
1/4 cup milk

Dressing
1 /4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon mustard
Mix loaf ingredients and form into a loaf. Boil dressing a few minutes. Pour over loaf and bake at 350 degrees for about two hours, basting occasionally. Dressing should become thick and syrupy.

Free cookbooks, telephone ordering now available
“Best of Amish Cook, 1,” “Best of  Amish Cook, II,” “Amish Cook Treasury” and “Amish Cook’s Favorites” are available for a package price of $65.   To order, call toll-free 1-877-583-2059. All books are packed with 200 pages of recipes and stories.  As a “thank you” to readers, anyone who orders a full set of cookbooks will receive a free copy of “The Amish Cook Family,” a colorful photo-filled coffeetable cookbook when it is released later this year. Back orders are being filled first. General questions regarding cookbooks or order status should be directed to: Amish Cook Editor, Kevin Williams, at kwilliams@oasisnewsfeatures.com)

0 Reader Responses to “Family enjoying dandelion greens”

Complete the form below to leave a response of your own.